Hello from the North!

Melonbob

Reef enthusiast
Hi everyone!

I was browsing the various forums today and I stumbled upon living reefs. I have to say from first impressions, this is the most newbie friendly place I've found. Anyways I just wanted to introduce myself. This is our first saltwater tank, we have a 46g bowfront. We added 50lbs of live rock about 5 weeks ago, and put in a small clean up crew of 3 snails and 3 hermits a week ago. All is well in my tests, however I am noticing the slightest green tinge to the water. I am doing a partial change today, and I am still waiting for my skimmer and new lighting to show up in the mail. Anyways, hello and I hope to hear from everyone!
 
Hello and welcome! The greenish tinge to your water is probably algae, which is normal for a cyling tank. What are your water parameters testing at?
 
ph 8.2
sg 1.022
ammonia 0
nitrite 0.25
nitrate 20
temp 80

As far as the algae, will it go away on its own? Should I be adding more to the cleaner crew? (3 snails 3 hermits) I am waiting for my t5's and my skimmer to show up and get that going before I consider a fish or coral. Should I wait for the algae to go away first? I am using reef complete 2x weekly, and reef carbonate 2x weekly as well. Anything else? I bought some Purple Up as some people love it, some not so much. I figured I'd give it a try. I will be getting this, the skimmer, lighting and reef test, as well as another powerhead in the next few days.

Right now I have a 2X21w T5, which I learned isn't gonna cut it. I have a 4X39 coming in, can I run both? Should I switch out any of the bulbs on the smaller fixture. The small has one 10K and one atinic, the new one will have 2 of each. Thanks for all the help!
 
Your tank is in the middle of its cycle, so I would not add any more animals until your ammonia and nitrite are both at zero. Once ammonia and nitrite hit zero, do a 20% or so water change, then you should be good to go.

Definitely wait on your skimmer before adding anything else. You shouldn't be needing any additives right now. I would stop adding the Reef Complete and Reef Carbonate, it's just wasting money at this point. The more light the better. If both lights fit on your tank, then use them both.
 
I will be doing my tests again tonight, I've only been doing it every four or five days while cycling, so it's been at least that long. I only added the cleaners cause the rock was grubby and my lfs said they would be fine(which they have for a good week now). I'll let you know how it goes tonight, and I'll take some pics too
 
Biffs right about the additives.You shouldnt have to dose those just yet.
You really shouldnt dose anything unless your tests show that you need to dose.To much of say calcium is worse than not enough.
As for the green water,it basically just algae floating around in the water.It'll eventually go away as your cycle finishes up and you get started with your regular water changes.


BTW,
Welcome to the reef and post any questions you have or pic you wanna share.
 
As per request, I posted a few pics in the Show off section, and I think I added them to my gallery. Check em out and tell me if you see it
 
Welcome to the site!

Very nice live rocks and aquascaping.I can see the slight green tinge to the water.Like everyone else said,it will get better in time.For now,you can reduce the photo period.The skimmer will help too when it arrives.

Best of luck and welcome again.
 
I noticed the post hasn't shown up in the Showcase section yet, the mods don't like me yet.....lol.

I did a 4 hr drive to get that rock, I knew nothing about rock at the time, but everyone on the Canadian site I was browsing was raving about the stuff. Very light and porous. So I hopped in the car and went, saved about half of what it would have cost me at the LFS, but there was no coraline on it.....): Everyone tells me its good looking stuff though
 
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